I have always loved this story.
1 Kings 17:7-16
Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread — only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it — and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.'” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. NIV
Today as I was reading it again something jumped out at me that I hadn’t thought of before now. I’ve placed the parts that intrigue me in bold print in the text above. Do you see it?
God had “commanded a widow”, but she didn’t know it yet. God had already made provisions for Elijah through the widow at Zarephath; He just hadn’t bothered to tell the widow. She would only learn of God’s pre-commanded miracle once she obeyed.
It made me wonder. How many things has God already “commanded” for my life today; miracles waiting to happen, if only I will be found obedient? This week, God, help me to look for those things you want me to do, that you’ve already provided for, but you haven’t yet told me about.
